It was a great joy to have my sister Reagan spend a week with us here in Dayton. As part of the usual behavior when family is together again, the conversation shifted to fond memories and funny stories. Little Chris was often the subject of these memories as we watched videos and shared funny photos.
During this process, several things stood out to me. First, Chris was the biggest ham I have ever met. Second, it amazed me watching how much Chris had learned and soaked up about Jesus, God, and the Bible during the year he was with us. Two specific memories stood out to me within the last few months Chris was with us.
The first memory happened on our way home from one of the last trips we got to take with him. We drove through the night, hoping Chris would fall asleep. He did not...and seemed to grow stronger in energy by the hour. However, it was during this time that Chris began to sing…Amen, Amen, I’m Alive, I’m Alive because He lives. I am sure Chris didn’t fully understand the lines that he was singing, but those words resting in his head are foundational pieces of the Gospel story that the Spirit can use in bringing Chris to recognize his need for Christ.
The second memory happened at our house over family dinner a few weeks before Chris went back home. As we sat eating and talking, Chris interrupted the conversation with something important that he wanted to tell Momma Maddie. Chris then proceeded to tell us that "Jesus came and died on the cross and was buried and rose again and loves us.” I am not sure if it was prompted in his brain because of a lesson that he had in class, or in awanas, or in our evening devotions as a family, but the result was amazing. Biblical truth was being hidden in Chris’s heart.
There are a lot of fun memories we shared, but nothing that filled me with greater joy or thankfulness than those two. But, it reminded me. This is my goal as a parent in stewarding the life that God has placed in our care. As the Psalmist writes in Psalm 31:11, we ought to spend our time teaching the children to fear the Lord! Paul in Ephesians 6 reminds us that our goal as parents is to bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord!
It does not matter if our young people excel to the highest levels of education, business, medicine, athletics, or any other sector of culture if they miss a heart developed to love and follow Christ. The first place trophies, gold stars, and medals are worthless and vanity in the grand scheme of eternity.
So, parent, what are you emphasizing in your home? Are you placing spiritual things at the forefront, and the focal point that everything is subservient to, or are spiritual things reserved to Sunday’s and the temporal things reign in every other area?
Young person, what is being developed in your heart? Are you responding to the spiritual teaching of your parents, or are you living in opposition to what they are trying to cultivate in your life? Our goal in life is to be shaped into the image of God and live not for ourselves, but for His glory.
So, what are you emphasizing?
Serving Together,
Pastor Derek